My DX Archive: Winter 1997-98

TAKING a trip back twenty one years to the winter of 1997-98 for this selection of radio broadcasts heard on the Short Wave band. Housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW). Logs transcribed from the original notes.

December 1997: Short Wave

• 13 December [1997]: 1541 UTC: 6175 kHz: West Coast Radio Ireland Gerard Delaney 'Letter from Ireland': Biddy Earley, a witch. 'Letterbox' Christopher Lewis, 15, Shropshire, England. Martin Cowin has sent a Christmas card. Contact details.
• 14 December: 20 UTC: 12160 kHz: WWCR Address for Miami FL Florida. RTE Radio news: CJD death risk to 250 patients, blood products contaminated with CJD. Rioting in Londonderry following orange march. AA roadwatch: Crash in County Wicklow, Traffic in Galway, congestion in Dublin. Weather: Dry, clear, frost, 2-5°C. Ads: Alka Seltzer. Good to fair reception. Sports reports: Irish football, rugby, hurling, FAI Harp Lager football. English Premiership football, rugby. Gaelic games. Bolton 3 - Derby 3.
• 25 December: 1137 UTC: 6045 kHz: Radio Netherlands Strong to good reception. 'Media Network' archive special: Jim Cutler, Jonathan Marks, Andy Sennitt. Lou Josephs. Music: 'Silent Night'. Editor of 'Practical Wireless' on the answerline. Jim Henderson in Thailand. Email from Canada. Brian Clarke in Auckland, New Zealand (FM DXer). Latin American relays: Trinidad, Moscow, Poland, USA. 1503 kHz Radio London at Christmas and the New Year: Mick Jagger, Cat Stevens. VLU2, 1422 kHz, Victor G in Sri Lanka.
• 27 December: 1523 UTC: 6175 kHz: West Coast Radio Ireland Strong reception. Music: 'My Old Sligo Home'. Michael Commins. Gerard Delaney 'Letter From Ireland'. Music: Sinead O'Connor & The Chieftains 'Foggy Dew'. 'Letterbox': Chris Morris in Shropshire, UK. USA, Austria. Father Brendan Rumley in Peru. Patrick Roebeck in Austria. A Thank You to Martin Cowin for the Christmas card. J K Wood, USA.

January 1998: Short Wave

• 19 January [1998]: 1830 UTC: 6065 kHz: Radio Sweden Stockholm. 'Sixty Degrees North' Sarah Roxstrom.

• 19 January: 1930 UTC: 12160 kHz: RTE Radio news via WWCR. Northern Ireland. Italian finance minister in Brussels. Weather. Sport. Headlines. Ads: Des Kelly Carpets. Books. Canada Life pensions. Eric Donnel farm news. Weather: Met Eireann. End. WWCR 'On The Brink' Ted Anderson. Caller from Alabama.
• 19 January: 2030 UTC: 12095 kHz: BBC World Service 'Newshour' Max Pearson with Vicky Merriot, headlines.

February 1998: Short Wave

• 3 February: 1938 UTC: 5915 // 6055 kHz: Radio Slovakia International Strong to good reception. 'Topical Issue': Slovak Prime Minister gives weekly radio address. Helga Dingova. Skiing. Sports news: Tennis. IAAF athletics. Winter Olympics. News headlines: Presidential elections.
• 3 February: 2015 UTC: 5960 // 6175 kHz: Voice of Turkey 'That Magnificent Sultan, Suliman' English from Anatolia to Europe. Strong reception.
• 3 February: 2026 UTC: 6125 kHz: Radio Exterior de Espana Weather in Spain. News headlines: Baghdad, Madeleine Allbright in Cairo. Fidel Castro, Cuba, US embargo. Libya. Spain. Music: Los Mustang 'Please Please Me' (Beatles cover). 'Press Review': San Sebastian City Council walk out. ETA (Terrorist organisation). One minute silence ignored at Athletico Bilbao football match. Tony Blair to investigate 'Bloody Sunday'. 'Kaleidoscope': Valencia congress. Strong to good reception. Interference: Russia.
• 3 February: 2058 UTC: 6180 kHz: BBC World Service 'Newshour' headlines at 21 UTC, English to Europe, Middle East.

• 3 February: 2106 UTC: 7170 // 7180 kHz: Voice of Russia World Service News: The conflict of Georgia & Aphazia. Headlines: Denmark to help new EU members. 'Science & Engineering in the Commonwealth'.
• 3 February: 2127 UTC: 7235 kHz: Radio Canada International Jim Craig 'Spectrum' Strong to fair reception. Ice storm in Quebec. Skelton transmitting station, England. 41.47m, 300 kW, 180° to Europe / Africa: RCI English. Asian economy crisis.
• 3 February: 2202 UTC: 7530 kHz: Radio Bulgaria English to West Europe, strong reception. News: Bulgarian restructuring conference. Greek ministers meet Bulgarian officials. Seminar of the IMF, World Bank & EU. Bulgarian ministers visit USA. World Bank visit to Romania. Bulgarian parliament receives Greek Ministers. 'Commentary'. 'Events & Developments': Bulgaria and the European Union.
• 3 February: 2252 UTC: 5745 kHz: World Harvest Radio International Strong to good reception. News: Execution. Air jet hits ski lift in Italy. Weather. USA Radio News. Ad break: Bus travel holidays. News: Baghdad. Arizona Senator. Monica Lewinsky. Florida storms. Financial news. Ad for short wave antennas. 'For The People' Chuck Harter.

That concludes the logs from the winter of 1997-98. Thank you for visiting Reporting From The Fox Tower. Enjoy your day!

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